AHRC News

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SRI LANKA: AG’s reply to IIGEP; Kafkan metamorphosis of the Attorney General’s role

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AS-143-2007 June 27, 2007 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission SRI LANKA: AG’s reply to IIGEP; Kafkan metamorphosis of the Attorney General’s role The Att...

PHILIPPINES: Bombings a result of inept police work, insecurity

On June 15, yet more civilians were killed when a person carrying an improvised explosive device (IED) left it to explode in a bus in a crowded public terminal in Bansalan, Davao del Sur. The explosio...

THAILAND: Recording reveals extent to which judiciary compromised; demands public response

A recording and transcripts of a conversation have been made available online which if true expose the extent to which Thailand’s senior judiciary is compromised and controlled by outsiders, and...

ASIA: To eliminate torture police reform must be given a central place in the human rights concerns of Asia

They heard the thud of wood on flesh. Boot on bone. On teeth. The muffled grunt when a stomach is kicked in. The muted crunch of skull on cement. The gurgle of blood on a man’s breath when his l...

SRI LANKA: The Sunday Times publishes a false story about the CJ attending a meeting in Hong Kong

(We produce here a news item published in the Sunday Times, June 24, 2007 ‘CJ off to HK despite protests’ which was a completely fabricated story). We also reproduce below a copy of a letter written...

INDIA: Widespread use of custodial torture is a ticking time bomb

The Prime Minister of India declared in a public speech early this year that India would soon ratify the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Pu...

PAKISTAN: Even the Chief Justice of Pakistan is not spared from torture

Pakistan is a country where even Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the apex court, is not spared physical and mental torture by the country’s law enforcement agencies.  Mr. Iftekhar Choudhary, the...

BANGLADESH: State urged to make torture a punishable crime in compliance with the UN Convention against Torture

Bangladesh has been a sitting member of the UN Human Rights Council since 9 May 2006, and has passed more than a year in the world’s top human rights forum. Before being elected to the Council Bangla...

CAMBODIA: More effective measures are required to end torture

Cambodia acceded to the Convention against (CAT) in 1992. Its criminal law, adopted in the same year, has succinctly criminalised torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment ...

SRI LANKA: The situation of torture worsens in 2007

On the International day for the elimination of torture the special consideration of the extremely harsh conditions prevailing in Sri Lanka relating to the observance of human rights needs to be stres...

THAILAND: Licence to torture must be revoked

In recent months, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has heard of more and more cases of torture by state officials in Thailand. The majority of these cases are from the south and northeast. The...

PHILIPPINES: Lack of law against torture and court delays deny redress for torture victims

Torture victims in the Philippines have suffered from the physical and mental pain inflicted on them by those who have mercilessly tortured them and have suffered a second time from the lack of a law ...

INDONESIA: Are Indonesia’s policemen the criminals in uniform?

The sentence meted out to the five police officers of Banjansari District Police Station found guilty of having tortured Roni Ronaldo to death on 20th November 2006, serves as evidence of Indonesia...

PAKISTAN: International Day Against Torture and Rehabilitation of Torture Victim

SNP legal Aid Committee with the collaboration of Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is holding a Seminar on “INTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST TORTURE AND REHABILITATION OF TORTURE VICTIM” on 26th June 2...

SRI LANKA: Web references on Sri Lanka’s rotten criminal justice system and the need for reforms

The serious collapse of the rule of law in Sri Lanka is accompanied by the collapse of the policing system, the degeneration of the prosecuting system under the Attorney General’s Department and...

WORLD: UN Human Rights Council adopts institution-building text

The adoption of on the President’s text is an important achievement. We thank Ambassador de Alba and congratulate him on his untiring efforts over the last year to bring the Council to this point. Wi...

HONG KONG: Chief Justice Sarath Silva will not participate at the City University of Hong Kong Basic Law conference

Earlier the Asian Human Rights Commission shared the Open Letter written to the Acting President and the Dean of the School of Law of the City University regarding the participation of the Chief Justi...

INDIA: The National Human Rights Commission of India is confused about its mandate

The statements made by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of India at the 5th United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) sessions appeared as if the NHRC is confused about its own mandate. T...

PAKISTAN: One journalist killed and another missing after arrest

June 17, 2007, was bad day for journalists in Pakistan as one was shot dead and another was arrested by the law enforcement agencies and has been missing since then. His whereabouts are not known and ...

INDONESIA: How the Culture of Impunity Breeds Violence

The shooting of the villagers in Pasuruan Rajawali Nusantara Corporation (RNC), having links with the Indonesian Naval Forces – Navy’s Eastern Fleet in Surabaya, cultivated a disputed land...